Method for crimping yarn



May 21 1968 D. A. E. MATHNGLY 3,383,745

METHOD FOR CRIMPING YARN Original Filed June lO. 1964 MPN W///DP/wml 5MGYAPA/ F El' D minata/rrp (0V/M Mid/Vf United States Patent O 3,383,745METHOD FOR CRIMPING YARN Denis Albert Edward Mattingly, London, England,as-

signor to The Klinger Manufacturing Company Limited, London, England, aBritish company Original application June 10, 1964, Ser. No. 374,045,now Patent No. 3,287,783, dated Nov. 29, 1966. Divided and thisapplication May 17, 1966, Ser. No. 562,410

4 Claims. (Cl. 28-72) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Synthetic filament yarnto be non-uniformly crimped is fed to a crimping chamber andlongitudinally compressed in the chamber to form a plug of crimped yarnwhile varying the relation between the rate of removal of the plug fromthe chamber and the rate of feed. A conveyor wheel used to remove theplug can be driven at variable speed or the wheel may have variable yarnconveying properties. Alternatively a variable speed drive for the yarnfeed can be used.

This application is a division of copendiug application Ser. No.374,045, filed June 10, 1964, now U.'S. Patent 3,287,783, granted Nov.29, 1966, and entitled, Yarn Crimping Apparatus.

This invention relates to apparatus for crimping yarn by compression sothat it assumes a sinuous or zig-zag formation and particularly forcrimping yarns formed from organic synthetic material includingpolyamides, polyester-s, and material sold under the trade name nylonand Perlon and under the registered trademark Terylene and whichapparatus is of the kind comprising a wheel having its periphery soformed that the yarn will cling to it and a part of whichl peripheryprojects into a groove in a member so as to leave a space between thoseparts, means for heating the yarn whilst in said groove or beforereaching the groove, or after reaching the groove or for heating theyarn at any of these locations, feed rollers arranged to force the yarninto one end -of said space, means for driving said wheel at such aspeed in relation to the feed rollers that the yarn is compressed insaid space and so that the resulting plug of compressed yarn travelsround with said wheel and means for withdrawing said yarn at acontrolled rate from the head of the plug and for winding it into apackage. Two forms of such apparatus are described in my prior patentapplications Ser. No. 240,551, tiled Nov. 1l, 1962, now U.S. Patent3,212,157, granted Oct. 19, 1965, and Ser. No. 270,448, now yU.S. PatentNo. 3,174,- 206, granted Apr. 3, 1963.

An object of the invention is to enable the extent of crimp to be variedalong the length -of the yarn whereby an article formed from the yarnhas a non-uniform appearance over the area thereof.

The invention is particularly applicable to yarn of large denier andwhich is subsequently cut into lengths forming tufts in carpets. By theuse of the invention the yarn in different tufts may have differentdegrees of crimping or the tufts may be made up of lengths of yarnhaving different crimping according to the appearance of the carpetwhich is required.

According to this invention an apparatus of the kind referred to in theabove referenced applications is modified in that means are provided forperiodically varying the rate of travel of the yarn through the space inwhich it is compressed in relation to the rate of feed of the yarn and/or in relation to the rate of withdrawal of the yarn from said space.

In one form om improved apparatus means may be M1ce provided forperiodically varying the rate of rotation of the feed rollers whereasthe rate of -rotation of said wheel and the rate of driving of saidwithdrawing means remain substantially constant.

Alternatively the rate of rotation of the feed rollers and the rate ofdrive of the withdrawing means may be maintained substantially constantand said wheel is so driven that its rate of rotation is periodicallyvaried.

In yet another alternative arrangement in which the yarn is subjected toheating and cooling steps after being withdrawn from said wheel, therate of rotation of the feed rollers and of said wheel are maintainedsubstantially constant and the rate of withdrawal of the yarn from saidplug on the wheel is periodically varied.

In any of the arrangements referred to above instead of the speed of thevarious parts being periodically varied they may be arranged so thatthey are constantly varying at a predetermined periodicity.

In the case where the speed is periodically varied certain stretches ofthe yarn will have a uniform crimp of one predetermined extent and otherstretches of uniform crimp of another extent whereas when the speed iscontinually changing the extent of crimp will vary continuously alongthe length of the Iyarn.

In any of the arrangements where the speed of drive is to be varied thismay be effected by change speed gear having automatically actuatedcontrolling mechanism.

In yet another alternative arrangement the irate of drive of said feedrollers, and 4of said wheel and of the withdrawing means may bemaintained substantially constant and the periphery of said wheel is soformed as to have varying yarn clinging properties around its periphery.

For example, in the case where the wheel is provi-ded with teeth aroundits periphery certain portions of the periphery may be left clear of theteeth so that when this part of the wheel is opposite the compressedyarn it traverses it at a lesser rate than when the toothed part of thewheel is opposite the yarn.

Alternatively certain portions of the periphery may have differenttoothed forms.

Yet again certain portions of the periphery may have different height ofteeth than others. For example, the tips of the teeth may lie on thesame circumference whereas the base portions of the teeth may bedisposed on circumferences of different diameters.

In yet another arrangement portions of the periphery wheel may bepolished whereas other parts of the periphery may be roughened.

The invention includes within its scope a yarn in which the extent ofcrimping varied in an ordered and predetermined manner along the lengththereof.

Other objects and arrangements of the invention will become apparent andthe invention will be fully understood from the following descriptionand drawings in which FlG. 1 is a schematic view partially in crosssection of a composite embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view of an alternate embodiment of feed wheel;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing a further embodiment of feedwheel;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing still another embodiment offeed wheel; and

FIG. 5 is a View similar to FIG. 2 showing still another embodiment offeed wheel.

Referring to the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1, the invention asembodied includes a stuffing box crimper in substantial accordance withapplicants prior application Ser. No. 240,551. The specific constructiondetails and functioning of the elements designated 10, 12, 14, 16, 18,19, 21, 24a and 72 need not be specifically elaborated on herein asthese conform to applicants prior aforementioned application and arefully disclosed therein in connection with the description of thefigures and particularly Fig. 4 of that application. However, thepresent invention includes a novel combination of programmed variablespeed control means 100 for altering the speed of the means 102 fordriving the yarn input feed wheels 19, 19; the feed wheel 14; and/oryarn withdrawal and take up means which may be operated in accordancewith the preceding description to produce a yarn having varying degreesof crimp therein. As will be readily apparent to those skilled in theart, when the relative speeds of the respective drive means shown inFIG. 1, are maintained constant, a uniformly crimped product willresult. In the practice of the invention herein disclosed, a producthaving varying degrees of crimp may readily be obtained by theprogrammed speed variation, either gradually, periodically or abruptlyof one or more of the drive means.

In FIG. 2, an alternate form of toothed feed wheel designated 14a isdisclosed. The peripheral portion designated 50 is void of teeth, whichwill alter the clinging properties of the yarn plug in this portion ofthe wheel, thereby altering the crimping conditions at the bight of thefeed rollers 19, 19, during its passage across the end of the crimpingchamber 21.

The alternate feed wheel designated 1411 of FIG. 3 includes a pluralityof teeth 52 of rounded or otherwise different form from the remainder ofthe teeth upon the wheel to accomplish similar results as those obtainedfrom the wheel of FIG. 2.

Likewise, the wheel designated 14e in FIG. 4 includes a peripheralportion having shallow root teeth designated 54, 54, which also inrelationship to the adjacent teeth alter the crimping conditions at thebight of the feed rollers 19.

FIG. 5 is yet a further extension of FIGS. 2-4 and includes a feed wheeldesignated 14d having a roughened peripheral portion designated Aadjacent a polished peripheral portion designated B. Again, as in theprevious figures, the different co-eicient of friction between thevarious peripheral portions of feed wheels 14a to 14d is effective toperiodically alter the crimping character istics to thereby produce anon-uniformly crimped yarn. While it will be understood that anon-uniformly crimped yarn may be obtained by the use of the feed wheelsof FIG. 2 to FIG. 5 inclusive, without the use of the programmedvariable speed control means of FIG. 1, it should be appreciated thatthe present invention contemplates the individual use as well as thecombined use of 4any one of the disclosed condition varying means toobtain the desired crimped yarn product.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown anddescribed in detail to illustrate the application of the inventiveprinciples, it will be understood that the invention may be embodiedotherwise without departing from such principles.

What I claim is:

1. In a method for crimping yarn, which comprises feeding the yarn intoconfining means to form a plug, engaging the plug of yarn and conveyingthe plug away from the discharge end of said confining means throughenclosure means, the improvement comprising varying the rate of travelof the plug from the discharge end of said confining means relative tothe rate of feeding the yarn to thereby produce a yarn of non-uniformcrimp.

2. In the method for crimping yarn according to claim 1, wherein therate of feeding of the yarn is varied.

3. In the method of crimping yarn according to claim 1, wherein the rateof the conveying of the plug is varied.

4. In the method for crimping yarn according to claim 1, wherein theplug of yarn is engaged by clinging to a conveyor, and wherein the yarnclinging property of the conveyor is varied.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,758,358 8/1956 Shattuck 28-13,121,935 2/1964 Shattuck et al. 28-1 3,248,770 5/1966 Shattuck et al.28-72 X 3,259,953 7/1966 Baer 28-1 LOUIS K. RIMRODT, Primary Examiner.

